Anonymous Hackers Attack CIA, British Intelligence Sites

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With coordinated denial-of-service attacks, the Anonymous network
of hacktivists took down the websites of the United Kingdom's
Home Office and Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), making good on
its promise to launch weekly cyberattacks on British intelligence
agencies.

The onslaught of Web traffic rendered the websites of MI6 and the
Home Office inoperable on Saturday (April 14),
The Tech Herald reported. These agencies were targeted as
part of Anonymous' ongoing "Operation Trial at Home" campaign, a
protest of the planned extradition to the U.S. of three suspected
U.K. cybercriminals, including Richard O'Dwyer, the 23-year-old
founder of TVShack.net.

Beginning early this month, Anonymous has vowed to levy attacks
every Saturday against the Home Office and other British
government agencies under the " Operation
Trial at Home " banner.

Both the MI6 and Home Office websites are currently back online.

On Sunday, Anonymous switched continents, if not gears, and aimed
its digital wrath at the CIA, hitting the website with a
denial-of-service attack that kept it offline for more than an
hour, The Tech Herald said. A Twitter post from @LulzPirate
announced the strike on Sunday at 9:18 p.m. with the usual "Tango
Down" message.

Along with Operation Trial at Home, Anonymous is also currently
invested in Operation Defense, a protest against the proposed
Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a
controversial bill that would enable private companies and the
government to better share cybersecurity information. Hackers
last week hit two trade organizations, TechAmerica and USTelecom,
as well as Boeing, with DDoS attacks to voice their opposition to
CISPA.

Only one of Anonymous' announced targets, the U.K.'s
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), was able to
deflect Anonymous' shots this weekend. The website of GCHQ, the
government body tasked with protecting other U.K. agencies from
cyberthreats, was not impacted by the attacks launched at it.

In an email to SecurityNewsDaily last week, a GCHQ representative
said the agency is aware of the weekly scheduled attacks, and has
put "reasonable and proportionate information assurance
precautions in place."

In other hackers-against-Britain news, last week's arrest of two
teenage members of the Team Poison hackers, including TriCk, the
group's leader, has sparked the group's remaining activists into
action. In a statement posted on PasteBay, the hacking group says
it has "lost a fighter for freedom, a fighter against
corruption," but that the fight has "just started."

"I ask you, a fellow hacker, as a blackhat, to rise, to unite and
to fight," Team Poison
wrote. The hackers ended their appeal with a list of
directives to its supporters. "Blend in. Get Trusted. Trust no
one. Own everything. Disclose nothing. Destroy everything. Take
back the scene. Never sell out, never surrender. Get in as
anonymous, leave with no trace."